Make Computer Science Count

I support the effort to make computer science count as a math or science requirement for high school graduation.

Too few U.S. students are pursuing college degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Only about 51,000 bachelor’s degrees are awarded annually in computer science, but there are an estimated 120,000 new computing jobs each year requiring this degree.

One reason that students are not pursuing computer science in college is because they have not studied—or even been exposed to—the field in high school. In 37 states, computer science only counts as an elective toward graduation. It doesn’t count for science. It doesn’t count for math. This makes no sense at all when computing and STEM are critical to our innovation economy. This needs to change.

We need to modernize state education standards to make computer science count!

Voices for Innovation, Microsoft, and other partners are launching an effort to encourage states to make computer science count. Please show your support for this effort by adding your name to the petition below.

By signing this petition, I am endorsing state-level initiatives to:

Improve and expand access to computer science education; and

Accept qualifying career, technical, and academic courses in computer science as meeting high school graduation requirements.